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The 3-2-1 rule
(alien.top)
We are digital librarians. Among us are represented the various reasons to keep data -- legal requirements, competitive requirements, uncertainty of permanence of cloud services, distaste for transmitting your data externally (e.g. government or corporate espionage), cultural and familial archivists, internet collapse preppers, and people who do it themselves so they're sure it's done right. Everyone has their reasons for curating the data they have decided to keep (either forever or For A Damn Long Time (tm) ). Along the way we have sought out like-minded individuals to exchange strategies, war stories, and cautionary tales of failures.
It's something that everyone should follow.
It is also something that everyone can absolutely afford to follow, for at least some of their data.
Take this for example.
A 5 pack of 128GB USB drives is dirt cheap.
Encrypt them all, keep two plugged into a USB hub. One in a drawer, one you keep in your car (who cares if it dies) and store another in a safe deposit box/friend's/family member's house.
If your house burns down you get to keep that 128GB of data, if you want more, pay more, but this is available for under $45 so yes everyone should do it for at least some of their data. There's no excuse.